January update

Well...... Christmas came and went with little progress on the race bike sadly!.

I spent most of Christmas in and out of hospital, so there was no opportunity to really get on as i'd intended!

The arrival of chickens at home as well ( yes yes - its becoming just like the Good Life) has meant a few jobs to do building chicken runs which took up valuable scooter tinkering time, still,

Feeling a bit better.... I managed to have a good stab at clearing the decks in the garage this week, so i'm now ready to make a start on spraying the frame in readiness. The frame is not too bad really, I think the layers of dirt and grime had protected it pretty well!.

First priority then is to get it painted, so when the engines in it at least i'll have a rolling chassis to move around, seeing as the garage is pretty cramped with far too many machines I tend to do a lot of juggling around to make space!

The engine is going off to Martin Cook at Chiselspeed to check over and tweak (!) ( http://www.chiselspeed.co.uk ). It was apparently dyno'd at 26HP, but no longer has the carb on it that it was originally built with, and of course I don't know 100% how accurate that figure is, so a new carb will be needed, and then Martin will set up and dyno ready to go.



Coming up soon is the AGM for the BSSO, where there are a number of motions and proposals which will possibly shake up the rules for the future in Group 4 , so it will be very interesting to see how the riders vote!

My own proposal is to restrict back current Group 4 to become 'Classic4' and revert back to cast iron barrels and other restrictions, whilst at the same time creating a new 'super4' class where the rules are actually relaxed slightly so there can actually be slightly more scope for engine tuners, alongwith the fitting of various gadgets, sensors and gismo's, all within a standard shaped, full bodied scooter. I reckon Charlie Edmonds, Paul Baker and the like will soon have engines pushing or exceeding the 40HP barrier, and would be awesome to see full bodied scooters flying around the tracks, mixing it up with the bigger bikes. Non scootering spectators would love it, and would be a great spectacle. I just hope the riders share the vision, and vote for it!

You only need to raed the post relating to Charlie's escapades with the bikes at Mallory on boxing day where he came 7th against 250 and 500cc bikes. That kind of thing really helps us I feel get good publicity and feedback on scooter racing.

I picked up a decent set of Belstaff leathers from trusty Ebay last week, so thats one more thing off the list!

Anyways........ happy new year to everyone involved or interested in scooter racing, next blog post should hopefully be shortly after the AGM with all the news from it for you!

A Historic Day

It was Miles' CBT test today......... and his SymJet scooter was still in pieces!

Droppped him off this morning at 8.00 for his training, and then into the garage to get it finished!

Rear brake lever was broken and Mr Sym has not despatched the new one yet! So....... what to do...... an hour's messing around with metal and a bracket was fabricated as a (very much ) temporary measure.

All the plastic fantastic body work is a bit battered....... previous owner seemed to have bounced every panel off the road at some point! So....... trusty cable ties here and there and its all back on again...... reasonably solid as well!

A new set of bulbs, and we're about there! Oops!!!!!!!!!!!!! well............ except for L plates for the boy wonder! A trip to Halfords and we're all sorted

So...... except for a few odd bits and bobs - its safe and sound for the road.......... needs some prettying up here and there but I doubt it will be standing still for long if Miles has his way!

Anyways... picked him up at 5.30, with a huge smile on his face and a CBT certificate in his hand!

6.30pm and I'm on my GP225 proudly following my son down the road on his very own scooter!

Happy Days.........

no progress!

hhmmmm... Well work has been very busy the last couple of weeks, and my son turned 16 so all my spare time has been spent trying to get a 50cc Symjet up and running for the young fella.

We managed to get it for peanuts.... cosmetically its a little battered and bruised, with a rare selection of cable ties holding the plastic fantastic body work in place. But on the positive side it came with 8 months tax and mot , although it has been stood since last MOT and would not start. A full strip of the carb, pouring a little petrol straight into the cylinder, recharging the battery, and it started!

Its very very temperamental to start though! One minute its tickety boo, then the next bloody thing won't start. Theres a new carb and choke mechanism on its way from fleabay, so that may cure it - i have a sneaking suspicion its the auto choke at the centre of the starting issues.

Anyways............... once carb, and new throttle cable / oil cable arrive it will up be back together and young Miles will be off to do his CBT!

So................. back to the Lambretta - once the auto is done then it will be serious progress with a bit of luck on the Lambretta!

First job is to source a carb as the one which came alongwith the engine is not actually the right one! Its a 30mm Mikuni, so it will be on Ebay with a spare manifold, and we'll see how much it goes for, as that will dictate budget for a new one!

The electronic ignition on the motor is a bit of a puzzler, I'm not famliar with Vespas, but apparently its a considerably lightened T5 ignition. I'm going to have to make up some form of holding tool though as there is just a single hole about 10mm diameter to hold it! Oh, and no apparent timing marks! So I have no diea where the timing is currently set - so thats gonna be fun. Probably have to invest in a strobe !

Digging around underneath my work bench revealed some virtually new powder coated rims, so they have been set aside in readiness for the race bike. My road bike is being treated to some stainless rims for next year, so the current rims will be going to the race project as well!

More soon!

The Frame

The frame for this project will be an Indian GP which I bought a few years ago with the intention of restoring. Unfortunately I had no import papers with it so it was just too much hassle.

So..... as it was just languishing in the corner I thought it was about time I got on and used it for something or other!

A small amount of welding will be needed, and its already virtually prepared for painting, so it makes an ideal start to the budget race bike project.

The forks will need a bit more attention though, as they are a bit worse for wear. So I'll see if i can find any alternatives first, and if not will have to set to and get them sorted out

Andrew Sharkey (Sharkman) has donated a fibreglass front mudguard, and some fibreglass panels on their way from Carl Neath at the BSSO AGM, thanks guys fr the donations to the cause!

Only main piece of bodywork I need is the Legshields, so the hunt is still on for them!

First Post

The idea of this blog is to document the process of building and racing a 200cc Group4 Lambretta Scooter, in the BSSO UK ScooterRacing Championship.

After a 12-13 year 'retirement' from racing, getting involved in setting up the BSSO Scooter Racing forum and taking over the website in 2007 has rekindled my interest in racing. So...... very much on a budget I intend going to play scooter racing in 2008!

This blog will hopefully document the ups (and inevitably downs) of the process of building the scooter, applying for a race licence, and actually returning to the track.

More information on racing can be found at www.scooterracing.org.uk and www.fastscooter.co.uk

Here We Go......

So....... first entry in the (ageing) Lambretta Racers blog

The intention is to document the process of building a Lambretta Group 4 200cc Race Scooter .

After a 'retirement' lasting 12-13 years I've been drawn back in to the thought of playing racing scooters. The BSSO organise scooter racing in the UK, and I intend to race in their 2008 series. It's hardly going to be a full blown championship assault(!) just enter a few races during the year - the only intention is to try not to come last!

This blog will hopefully highlight the ups and undoubted downs of the process of building a racing scooter ( on a budget ) and then applying for a race licence and then actually getting out on the track!